Isle of Mull - 22 places to stay

The Isle of Mull is one of the most easily conquerable islands in Scotland. Part of the Inner Hebrides, conquistadors can arrive on the island after a short steam on the ferry from Oban . But if youíre planning a trip anytime soon, brace yourself for some disappointment: you wonít be the first to set foot on its shore. Man has been calling Mull home since the last Ice Age thawed. Donít worry Ė itís still undersubscribed, a place far from the madding crowd.
Mesolithic Man was the first to settle on Mull, and these folks, lacking some of the social refinement of Mullís contemporary society, were a tribal lot of hunter gatherers, whose Stone Age endeavours included the domestication of the dog, and using flints and suchlike as arrowheads. These arrowheads and spears would be refined during the Neolithic Period, more animals would become domesticated. Whisper it, but man was becoming civilised, and Mull was at the sharp end of this human evolution.
Anthropologists are not alone in their appreciation of Mull, and aside from holidaymakers looking to get a good few litres of braw sea air into the lungs, geologists have plenty to shake a rock hammer at. Mull is fashioned from basalt and is plonked on rocks which are over 200 million years old. Plenty of Mullís history has been left behind; stone circles, dating back to the Bronze Age, are still in evidence. So too menhirs, casting their ceremonial gravitas forward through the centuries.
Mull is the fourth largest island in Scotland, yet just over 2,000 people live there Ė the legacy of the Highland Clearances of the 18th Century. It is undersubscribed by man, but come the summer months it is invaded by tourists, whose path is replicated thousands of times over by the migratory birds that take so much pleasure in taking temporary residence on the island. Warmed by the Gulf Stream, Mull, like its Hebridean neighbours, enjoys a more temperate climate than the rest of the UK. Though it does tend to be wetter. All of which makes for a rather pleasant environment for Mullís bountiful reserve of flora and fauna.
Primarily carpeted by moorland and surrounded by rich, fertile waters, Mull has over 250 species of bird to keep its whales, seals, porpoises and dolphins, company. Binoculars will help you spot birds like the white-tailed eagle, while a number of boat trips operating out of tobermory will take you out to admire Mullís coastline from the water Ė cameras at the ready should the minke whales pop up. It is an incredibly photogenic part of the world, the earthy hues of the moorland, spiked with grasses and garlanded in places by wildflowers, help compose a fantastic shot. If youíre lucky, the sunsets can be spectacular on the islandís uncultivated west coast.
Tobermory is Mullís main town, and it should be familiar to many; the multi-coloured housing, aligned along its waterfront, is the setting for childrenís television programme, Balamory. Of all of Scotlandís harbour towns, Tobermory is one of the most iconic. From there, armed with camera, hiking boots, the entire island of Mull is waiting for you to conquer it.